The Danish Government approves support of 5.5 million USD (30 million DKK) for support to Syrian refugees

30.01.2013 09:52

The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach, grants 5.5 million USD in support of the World Food Program’s (WFP) food distribution to Syrian refugees.

The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach, has decided to grant 5.5 million USD in support of the World Food Program’s (WFP) food distribution to Syrian refugees.

Minister Christian Friis Bach states:

“The crisis in Syria has been declared a level 3 disaster by the UN, which means that we are facing a crisis of a very serious nature. The refugees need food, blankets, shelter and other forms of assistance and the Danish government will do what we can to assist”.

Denmark has earlier in 2013 granted almost 5 million USD to the crisis in Syria through Danish NGOs and UNHCR. In 2012, a total of approximately 28 million USD were granted for humanitarian support in Syria and neighbouring countries. With the latest grant, Denmark has contributed 38 million USD in humanitarian assistance to the crisis in Syria since the beginning of 2012.

On January 30th, the Minister for Development Cooperation will participate in an international pledging conference chaired by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, where the international donor community will discuss the massive humanitarian needs of the victims of the Syrian crisis. The UN estimates that the total cost to meet humanitarian needs from January to June 2013 amounts to 1.5 billion USD.